When Middle Schoolers are Entrusted With the Internet

Last week, my students found my Facebook, my “real” name, and a lovely new nickname for me.

Because I’m still a student teacher, I let my students call me Miss Ari, even though that’s my first name.

Last week I approached a group of 3 students who were supposed to be writing on their computers. As I walked up, one of them said, “Miss, look at me! Who am I?” as he stuck his tongue out, making a weird face.

I said, “Uhh. Jackson. You’re Jackson.”

He giggled and responded, “No, I’m MARIE!”

I felt myself going red as I tried to figure out why he just said my middle name (which only friends and family call me by), and why he was sticking his tongue out to imitate me. Then I remembered: facebook. My name on Facebook is Marie, not Ari. It took me a second to connect the dots, and the kids teased me relentlessly about a particularly dorky and stupid profile picture for the rest of the day.

I let the kids have their fun, especially since the most they could do was look at my profile pictures, and they had already seen the most embarrassing one. The damage was done, and over with.

Or so I thought.

The next day, we had a new student named Will. Anytime we have a new student, we have everyone go around and introduce themselves so the newbie can learn some names. So the class began to do just that, say their names.

Finally, I said, “And I’m Miss Ari!”

At which point the 3 students who had discovered my double identity chimed in with the following:

“No! That’s Miss Liar!”

And:

“No! That’s Miss Lied to us For a Whole Semester About Her Name!”

And the icing on the cake:

“No! That’s Miss Ghetto Selfies!”

By that point, I had to accept my fate. So I turned to our new student, Will, and said, “That’s right, Will. You can call me Miss Ghetto Selfies.

Oh, how I cherish these moments that make teaching such an adventure 🙂